Air cascade system

We had the opportunity in the spring of 2004 to purchase a 4-bottle air cascade system for $300. A new system would be around $3000, so we bought it.

An air cascade system is used to fill SCBA bottles. Normally we'd have to take our bottles in town to the Bedford Fire Department. Having the cascade system is much more convenient, and we don't have to pester Bedford.

When the cascade system needs recharged we take it to the Indiana Laborer's Training Institue. They have a compressor system and fill our bottles free of charge.

The first time we took the bottles to get them filled we had to take the system apart, load the bottles into a truck, unload the bottles at the institute to be charged, and then repeat the process. This was a lot of work!

We decided to mount the bottles on a small trailer for ease of portability. We found a small trailer at Harbor Freight for $160.